LOUISVILLE (KY)
WHAS 11 [Louisville, KY]
September 23, 2026
By Joseph Garcia and Lina Gebhardt
A janitor at Our Lady of Lourdes who said she was sexually assaulted and raped multiple times in 2025, claimed Father David Sanchez dismissed her concerns.
Father David Sanchez, the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, has resigned amid a lawsuit accusing church leadership and the Archdiocese of Louisville of mishandling allegations of sexual abuse.
According to a letter obtained by WHAS11 and distributed by Archbishop Shelton Fabre, Sanchez resigned as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes effective Wednesday.
“I am fully aware that the past few days have been a difficult time,” Fabre wrote. “While Sanchez remains a priest in good standing, he does not want to be the source of further unrest in the parish.”
Fabre said he accepted Sanchez’s resignation and placed him on administrative leave.
Father John Schwartzlose, the parish’s associate pastor, has been appointed temporary administrator.
“These appointments will likely continue until July of 2027 when I hope to appoint a new pastor,” Fabre wrote.
The resignation comes as a lawsuit filed Sept. 17 lists Sanchez as a defendant — accusing the pastor of denying a church janitor’s allegations that her direct supervisor (not Father Sanchez) raped and sexually assaulted her multiple times in 2025, shortly after she was hired in April.
Her attorney, John Spalding, spoke on her behalf during a press briefing Wednesday.
“She felt it important in this case for the community to just see her face, to see that she is standing behind the allegations that are in our complaint,” Spalding said.
According to the lawsuit, the woman reported the alleged abuse to Sanchez.
The lawsuit says Sanchez accused her of lying, and that he and the supervisor were good friends.
“This case is about getting to the bottom of ‘did they live up to their own standards’, and if they did not, why not?” says Spalding. “And — how can we prevent this from happening in the future?”
The lawsuit claims the alleged abuse stopped after the supervisor left for what was described as a “medical procedure.”
Later, when a new supervisor learned about the allegations from an “unknown source,” the woman was instructed to report them.
“She went to the priest at Our Lady of Lourdes, Father David Sanchez, and reported it,” says Spalding. “We allege that he didn’t do anything about it, that he did not believe her, that in fact he told her not to talk about it, and that he tried to silence her.”
The woman also filed a police report with the St. Matthews Police Department.
St. Matthews Police told WHAS11 the department is investigating the allegations and consulting with the prosecutor’s office.
The woman was granted a protective order against the supervisor in December 2025. The order was later converted into a three-year domestic violence order.
“If someone has a story to tell, if they have an experience with Father Sanchez or with Our Lady of Lourdes that is concerning to them … Those are things that I would like to know,” says Spalding.
Spalding hopes the allegations will be pursued criminally in addition to the ongoing civil lawsuit.
Other parishioners have told WHAS11 they filed complaints with the Archdiocese and feel their concerns have not been heard. Sanchez previously served as a priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Butchertown.
It remains unclear when the Archdiocese first became aware of the allegations. The Archdiocese of Louisville has not commented on the pending litigation.